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Connecting your Microsoft Exchange account to Zendesk

TobyH Howard
Suite Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus
Support Team, Professional, or Enterprise

As described in About the Microsoft Exchange connector, you can connect your non-Zendesk email servers, based on Microsoft Exchange, directly to your Zendesk Support account. Once connected, the connector uses an Exchange API to fetch email from your Exchange inbox and automatically convert email messages to tickets. The API is also leveraged to deliver outbound email from Zendesk to your Exchange mailbox.

The Zendesk Exchange connector is compatible with Microsoft Exchange Online only. Exchange Server on-premises versions are not supported.

You must be a Zendesk administrator to connect your Exchange account to Zendesk. Zendesk recommends testing this feature in your Zendesk sandbox environment before using it in production.

This article includes the following topics:

Connecting your Exchange account to Zendesk

When you connect your Exchange account to Zendesk, make sure you sign in to the Exchange account you want to connect to. If you sign in to a different Exchange account in the same browser as your instance of Zendesk Support, you will connect to the wrong account.

In addition, make sure the Exchange mailbox isn't used by any other connection method (such as email forwarding) or any agent or end user in your Zendesk account.

To connect your Exchange account to Zendesk

  1. Sign in to the Exchange account you want to connect to Zendesk.
  2. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Email.
  3. In the Support addresses section, click Add address, then click Connect external address.
  4. Select Microsoft Exchange connector.

  5. Click Continue with Microsoft.
  6. Click Accept to approve access to the email account.

    You may need to sign in to Microsoft using your account credentials for that email address.

  7. Click Done.

Your Zendesk Support account is connected to your Microsoft account. If you want to connect to multiple accounts, repeat these steps.

Managing your Exchange connections

In Admin Center, admins can check the status of their Exchange connections, as well as disconnect or reconnect Exchange accounts as needed.

Checking the status of a connection

Checking the connection status of your Exchange account helps you confirm the setup was successful and emails are being received from Exchange. Connections that are properly configured show a Connected status with a green check mark.

If the account isn't connected, you'll see a message describing the problem and suggested actions.

To check the status of an Exchange connection

  1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Email.
  2. In the Support addresses section, locate the Exchange account.

    Connections that are properly configured show a Connected status under the email address.

Disconnecting an Exchange account

You can disconnect an Exchange account anytime to stop importing email from that inbox.

If you want to disconnect the inbox tied to your default support address, you must set a different default support address before continuing.

To disconnect an Exchange account

  1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Email.
  2. In the Support addresses section, locate the Exchange account.

    Support addresses connected to an Exchange account display “connected to Microsoft Exchange."

  3. Hover over the address, then click Delete.

    If you don’t see the Delete option, it means the connection is set up as the default connection. You must set a different default support address before continuing.

  4. Confirm you want to delete the connection by clicking Delete address.

Reconnecting an Exchange account

If you see a warning in the Support addresses section indicating that your Exchange account has been disconnected, you can restore the connection. This process is similar to setting up a new connection.

When a support address is disconnected, outgoing email is not sent from that address, and Zendesk doesn’t fall back to other connections you may have set up.

To reconnect an Exchange account

  1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Email.
  2. In the Support addresses section, click Connected to Microsoft Exchange under the address.

    If the account has disappeared from the Support addresses list, try reconnecting it as a new connection or contact Zendesk Customer Support.

  3. Click Reconnect.

Once re-authorized, the connector will restart fetching any unfetched emails. You should continue to receive all new emails sent to that Exchange account.

Troubleshooting your connection

  • If you see error messages regarding permissions (such as, "Couldn't verify your Microsoft account. Check your permissions and try again"), review the permissions on the Exchange account you’re connecting to Zendesk. The following permissions are required:
    • openid
    • offline_access
    • email
    • User.Read
    • Mail.Send
    • Mail.ReadWrite
  • The Microsoft email address you’re connecting to Zendesk can’t be used by any other connection method, agent, or end user in your Zendesk instance. If the email address is in use, you’ll receive the following message and will be unable to connect: “This email is used by Support and can’t be added. Ensure the email address isn’t already connected or in use by an agent or end user.”

Frequently asked questions

How do I switch from email forwarding to using the Exchange connector? If I have existing email channels, what's the best way to convert them to use the Exchange connector? Can I delete the channel and re-add it as an Exchange connector?

To switch from email forwarding to the Exchange connector, you must first remove all previous connections and configurations associated with the email address you wish to configure in the Exchange connector. Additionally, ensure that email forwarding is turned off on your email server.

What happens to existing emails in the Exchange mailbox when I connect that mailbox to Zendesk?

When the Exchange connector is set up, it begins fetching only new emails that arrive in the mailbox after the connection is established. Any older emails will not be converted to tickets in Zendesk.

How are duplicate emails managed?

Duplicate emails are managed by existing deduplication mechanisms, including those that may have reached Zendesk through different methods (for example, once through forwarding and again through the Exchange connector). However, due to the complexity of email protocols, deduplication may not always be possible. For more detailed information about the underlying mechanisms, see Understanding how incoming emails are matched to tickets.

What happens to emails after they are fetched?

All emails that are successfully fetched are marked as read and categorized under "Zendesk." These emails can be safely removed; however, Zendesk strongly recommends archiving them instead of deleting them.

Can I connect to a shared mailbox?

No. The Exchange connector does not support connecting with shared mailboxes.

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